Oreo's 100-Day 'Daily Twist' Campaign Puts Cookie in Conversation

At 100 years old, Kraft Foods' Oreo seems younger than ever. The brand's "Daily Twist" campaign has made the cream-stuffed sandwich a social-media darling and sometime daredevil. It kicked off June 25 with a polarizing image of the cookie, septuple-stuffed with rainbow filling to celebrate Gay Pride Month -- a bold move for a brand that topped $2 billion in revenue last year. Since then, we've seen a Shark Week Oreo, a Mars Rover Oreo and a tribute to panda Shin-Shin's newborn cub -- just a handful of 100 iterations that will roll out daily through October.

This group effort from an integrated agency team consisting of DraftFCB New York, 360i, Weber Shandwick, and MediaVest is part of Oreo's centennial. The celebration kicked off in March with its "History" print campaign, which enlisted the cookie to depict historical milestones. That effort showed the cookie's historic relevance while "Twist" contemporizes it in the context of current events.

The brand's birthday mission, said marketing director Cindy Chen, has been to "help everyone around the world celebrate the kid inside." Like the "History" campaign before it, "Daily Twist" aims to filter the world through the "playful imagination of Oreo."

Some might mistake "Daily Twist" as a print effort, because at its heart are simple yet striking images. But Ms. Chen said it is ultimately a social and digital campaign to engage the brand's growing population of fans: 27.7 million on Facebook alone. There's a dedicated site, brands.nabisco.com/Oreo/dailytwist, as well as a presence on Pinterest, Tumblr and Facebook. The content choices are designed to spark conversation and sharing.

"Consumption of media has shifted quite a bit to digital, social and mobile. To be on pace with that is really important for the brand to continue to grow; that's why the Daily Twist program was born," said Ms. Chen.

DraftFCB Creative Director Megan Sheehan said that although some cookie designs for "Twist" are predetermined, "the vast majority of the work happens in real time. Each morning the team homes in on what's trending and what's right for Oreo." And every day is production day, with photo shoots involving real Oreos. "We've shot cookies at every angle known to man -- and a few new ones," she said.

"Whether it's entertainment, utility, inspiration or humor, we're always testing the value of the relevance to drive the most interactions and valuable conversations with Oreo fans," said Sarah Hofstetter, president of 360i. "Current events tend to be of strong interest to our community," she said. "The content performs at its best when the relevance and timeliness come together, so we're not too late to the meme."

Ms. Chen said that since the campaign's launch, Oreo has seen a 110% growth in fan interaction per social-media post -- defined as any combination of shares, likes or comments. The company averaged 7,000 per post before the "Daily Twist" launch. After, they reached an average of 14,700.

Yet, to the chagrin of fans wanting to taste the Oreo rainbow, "we do not have any plans to create "Daily Twist'-inspired cookies," she said. Unrelated to Daily Twist, however, Oreo did on Monday unveil this unusual Halloween-inspired treat: Candy Corn Oreo.